Protective package for fragile articles



Jan. 30, 1951 H. JENETT 2,539,514

PROTECTIVE PACKAGE FOR FRAGILE ARTICLES Filed April 19, 1947 I 7/ 3 ;,5Z E I I 6 INVENTOR 10 HENRY JET/77.

\ ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 30, 1951 PROTECTIVE PACKAGE FOR FRAGILEARTICLES Henry Jenett, Montclair, N. J.; Caroline Maria Jenett executrixof said Henry deceased Louise J enett,

Application April 19, 1947, Serial No. 742,760

2 Claims. 1

The present invention relates to packaging of material, and moreespecially to the packaging of fragile material, such as pottery, glassand dinnerware, and to the method of packing the same, which is moreeconomical and desirable than present known methods.

At the present time it is customary to wrap pottery, glass and ceramicarticles in paper and then pack such wrapped articles in excelsior orsawdust. The paper and loose packing is used essentially to prevent thedishes or glassware from rubbing against one another and chipping. Thisresults, however, in large bulky packages of rather high cost from thestandpoint of packing as well as increased shipping expense. Moreover,the paper and excelsior or sawdust, being of high inflammability hasresulted in high insurance rates throughout the industry.

A further disadvantage resides in the fact that the sawdust andexcelsior invariably slips through the paper wrapping necessitatingunpacking and washing before the glassware or dishes, as the case maybe, can be displayed or used. Not only does this handling involve laborcosts but it increases the hazard of breakage and since unpacking andwashing is necessary before damage can be ascertained, any chipping orbreaking occurring during handling is invariably charged back to theshipping agent or manufacturer.

It is accordingly the primary object of the present invention to providea cheap and effective package for fragile material such as glassware,dishes, pottery and the like which eliminates all the objections andhazards of prior art packages for such material.

Still further objects of the present invention will become obvious tothose skilled in the art by reference to the accompanying drawingwherein: V

Figure l is a cross-sectional view of a dinner plate provided with aprotective coating in accordance with the present invention;

Figure 2 is a view showing stacking of the coated plates of Fig. l, and

Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view of stacked deeper dishes than thoseshown in Fig. l and each provided with a protective strip-coating inaccordance with the present invention.

l. have discovered that a plastic film cast on to pottery, dinnerware,or the like, acts to protect it from contact with its neighbors aseffec- 2 tively as any present methods of packaging, while at the sametime fully protecting the material against shock, which might otherwisecause chipping or breaking. Moreover, if certain types of plastic filmsare punctured in the semi-set stage, the plastic film dries as anelastic membrane instead of as a coating hugging the glassware ordishes, and these elastic membranes act to provide a cushioning andspacing effect which facilitates excellent stacking and packing, and atthe same time completely obviates the necessity for additional fillingmaterial for the packages.

Any of the commonly known strip-coating media may be used to produce theplastic film. These fall into three general categories, as follows:

(DI-lot melts, consisting of plastic compositions comprising varyingproportions of cellulose esters or ethers, plasticizers, oils, waxes,gums or resins, colorants and other modifying agents, all of thecomponents being substantially nonvolatile in character, the massesbecoming liquid upon the application of the relatively high temperatureat which they are applied and solidifying on the articles upon cooling.

(2) Liquid coatings, comprising various proportions of plastic matter asabove described and of volatile organic solvents, the compositionsremaining liquid at room temperature and forming films or solid coatingson the articles upon the evaporation of the solvents.

(3) Reversible gels, comprising varying proportions of plastic matterand volatile solvents, the compositions being liquefiable at moderatetemperature and reverting from this liquid state to a transitory gelstage upon application to the articles, then forming solid coherentfilms, upon evaporation of the solvents.

For purposes of the present invention I prefer to employ the reversiblegel type of coating such as described and claimed in my co-pendingapplication, Serial No'. 737,431 filed March 26, 1947, now abandoned.This is because the hot melt type of coating sets so rapidly that it isdifficult to form a drum-like membrane during the setting process. Theliquid type of coating, as above mentioned, forms thin films which havethe tendency to cling to the article and therefore do not lendthemselves to the controlled formation of membranes. Consequently theselatter two types of compositions are restricted to uses where themembrane formation is not desired.

A typical composition which may be used for a membranous coating is:

A further example of another composition.

which forms a membranous coating is:

Pounds Polyvinyl chloride 13.5 Mixed plasticizer 6.5 Nitroethane 60Hexane 20 The articles to be coated are dipped in the coatingcomposition which, as above stated, is

preferably of the reversible gel type and thus in .a, hotliquidstate at.the time of dipping. Upon withdrawal, the coating begins to cool,accompaniedby evaporation of the. solvent. When the articles aredinnerware or the like such as shownat5'in the accompanyingdrawing,having concave surfaces 6, I find" that Icy-puncturing ,thecoating 7above the concave surface such as shown by the small vent opening 8,and'while in theserni-setstage, continued evaporation of the solventcauses the coating to bridge across the periphery of the concave surfaceand form a drum-like membranous web 9, as hereinbefore mentioned. Also,ifdesired, thedrum-like membranous web 9 may be just as readily formedover the concave surfaces without puncturing by rapid' or quick dryingsimply through exposure of the coating film to temperatures appreachingthe boiling point of thesolvent while the film is still moist orsolvent-ladenand hence in a contractiblestate.

Atthe same time the coating Tadheres to all edges and'fiat surfaces, sothat, upon stacking the dishesone on the other as shown in Figs. 2 and 3the resilient drum-like membrane yields sufficiently to form a cushion,aided by the air beneath the membrane and within the concave area, thusadequately protecting one coated article from actual contact with itsneighbors above and below in the stack. Moreover, the adheringcoatingat-the edges and periphery tends to absorbshockand vibrationduring shipping which would otherwise cause breaking and-,chippingatsuch locations. Hence, after dipping and puncturingor quick drying andonce the coating has set, the articles 5' may be stacked one on theotherin sufficient quantity for a standard package and thenappropriately boxed for shipment. Such box 10, such as shown in Fig. 3need only be large enough to accommodate the number of articles makingup the standard package and since nofurther packing inthe way ofshockabso-rbing-material such-as paper, sawdust, or excelsior, isrequired, the box or final shipping container is thus of minimumsizeand'weight.

Upon receipt of the shipment the customer need onlyopen the containerand-remove the ar-.

ticles for inspection and display, whenthey will be found tov be. asmeticulously .clean and perfect in every respect as when they leftfactory. The

plastic coating can be left upon the articles, since it continues itsprotection from dirt and shock without impairing complete visualexamination, until the article is sold to the ultimate consumer, whothen strips the coating readily from the article.

It should accordingly be obvious from the foregoing that a package forfragile material, such as glassware, dinnerware, pottery and the like,is provided .by the present: invention wherein the articles are providedwith a drum-like plastic membrane spanning concave surfaces andsumciently resilient as to enable stacking of the articles one on theother. Moreover, due to the cushioning effect of the coating, thearticles are protectedfrom contactwith each other, eliminatingthe-hazards of breakage and chipping while confining the sizeand weightof a shipping container to a minimum, and at the same time protectingthe articles from contamination from the time they leave the factoryuntil received by the final purchaser.

Although one specific embodiment of the present invention and the methodof forming has been shown and described, it is to be understood thatstill further modifications thereof may be made without departing fromthe spirit and scope of the appended claims.

I, claim:

1., A package comprising a plurality of stacked articles in a container,each article having a concave surface and said articles being separatedfrom each other by a resilient cushion formed of a membranous film oftransparent strippable thermoplastic material bridging the concavesurface of each article and adhering to the plane surface thereof withsaid membranous film being entirely free of reinforcing and supportedsolely by itself from the edges of the coated article.

2'; A package comprising a plurality of stacked articles in'a containerwith each article provided with a concave surface and being separatedfrom each other by a resilient shock-absorbing cushion formed of amembranous film of transparent strippable thermoplastic material, saidmembranous film being provided with a small vent opening. therein andbridging the concave surface of each article and adhering to the planesurface thereof to prevent contact between the stacked articles andpossible cracking or breakingthereof, ancl'said membranous film beingentirely free of reinforcing and supported solely by itself from theedges of the coated article.

HENRY JENETT.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 668,048 McCarthy Feb. 12, 19011,664,635 Magill Apr. 3,1928 1,715,685 Tighe June 4, 1929 1,800,841Maston Apr. 14, 1931 1,908,940 Weidel May 16, 1933 2,064,411 BrandsteinDec. 15, 1936 2,151,503 Dowst Mar. 21, 1939 2,362,740 Batchelor Nov. 14,1944 2,372,982 Richards Apr. 3, 1945 2,441,227 Pineles May 11, 1948

1. A PACKAGE COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF STACKED ARTICLES IN A CONTAINER, EACH ARTICLE HAVING A CONCAVE SURFACE AND SAID ARTICLES BEING SEPARATED FROM EACH OTHER BY A RESILIENT CUSHION FORMED OF A MEMBRANOUS FILM OF TRANSPARENT STRIPPABLE THERMOPLASTIC MATERIAL BRIDGING THE CONCAVE SURFACE OF EACH ARTICLE AND ADHERING TO THE PLANE SURFACE THEREOF WITH SAID MEMBRANOUS FILM BEING ENTIRELY FREE OF REINFORCING AND SUPPORTED SOLELY BY ITSELF THE EDGES OF THE COATED ARTICLE. 